甲状腺乳头状癌淋巴管生成与淋巴结转移、血管内皮生长因子C表达的关系

Association of lymph vessel density with lymph node metastasis and VEGF-C expression in papillary thyroid cancer

目的探讨甲状腺乳头状癌淋巴管生成的分布特点及与血管内皮生长因子C(VEGF-C)的表达,淋巴结转移的关系。方法应用免疫组化方法检测80例甲状腺乳头状癌组织中VEGF-C的表达,并用淋巴管内皮细胞特异性抗体D2-40标记淋巴管,记数肿瘤淋巴管密度(LVD),结合临床病理资料进行分析。结果甲状腺乳头状癌组织中VEGF-C表达阳性及淋巴结有转移者LVD显著增高(均P<0.05)。结论甲状腺乳头状癌中新生淋巴管主要分布在肿瘤间质组织中。LVD与VEGF-C蛋白表达和淋巴结转移密切相关。

Objective To investigate the association of lymph vessel density （LVD） with lymph node metastasis and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C （VEGF-C） in papillary thyroid cancer. Methods Tissue samples of primary tumor were collected from 80 patients with papitlary thyroid cancer. The expression of VEGF-C was examined immunohistochemically, and LVD was assessed by calculating D2-40 positive lymph vessels. The association of clinicopathological parameters with VEGF-C expression and LVD were analyzed. Results Expression of VEGF-C was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and LVD. LVD expression in papillary thyroid cancer was positively correlated with regional lymph node metastasis, but not with age and tumor size. Conclusion Increased LVD is correlated with lymph node metastasis and VEGF-C expression.